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July 18, 2008

Studying Darfur

STUDYING DARFUR

The news from Darfur is not good. Eight peacekeepers have been killed in the last two weeks. Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court has indicted the President of Sudan for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity

The problem that the United Nations peacekeepers face is not a new one. A couple of years ago, the peacekeepers wore green berets instead of the UN blue berets -- they were with the African Union. Dick's guest, Al-Banan, was one of their interpreters.

Al-banan saw and documented what was happening, talked to the survivors and came face-to-face with the horrors of the genocide.

A VOTER'S DRIVE

Frank Lynch clearly remembers the moment that changed everything for him. Frank couldn't wait to become eligible to vote in the early 1970s. So when the Constitution was amended to allow 18 year olds to vote, Frank was eager to get his fellow students involved.

Frank vividly remembers a hundred "hippies" descending on the local election supervisor's office - along with the faint hint of marijuana in the air.

Music:

Heiewa and The Aid Convoy by Graeme Revell for the album Darfur Now (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

During the Korean War, the 15th Infantry Regiment was sent to hold a small hilltop that was just beyond the front line. Although Outpost Harry had great strategic significance, it was so small that no more than 150 soldiers could defend it at any one time. Over the course of a week, over 13,000 Chinese soldiers took turns trying to storm the hill in wave after wave of assaults. Sergeant Jerry Cunningham was there. Also in the show: A woman learns about cheering in a foreign land.

David Lowery is more comfortable on a stage than in a combat zone. But the lead singer of the rock band Cracker left comfort behind recently to play for the troops serving in Iraq. The singer is personally against the war. But one of his songs, Yalla Yalla, became a hit with soldiers.

When psychologist Feriha Peracha was asked to assess a handful of boys rescued from Islamic militants, she had no idea it would lead to a life changing project - a school designed to undo the training they'd gotten to be informants, fighters and suicide bombers.